Terrestrials 101

Course Synopsis: an introductory level course in tying and fishing terrestrials, focusing on innovative foam disc patterns. 4 credits. Professor Harrison Steeves III.

Terrestrials account for the bulk of the world's insect population, and are the "meat and potatoes" of a trout's diet. Terrestrials don't belong on the water, and when they find themselves there it's frequently because they've fallen off a bankside tree or bush. Fish terrestrials right against the banks and you'll be surprised how effective they can be.

I've often been tempted to stop someone on a trout stream and politely ask to see the selection of terrestrials they carry with them. I suspect that if they were kind enough to allow me to peruse their fly boxes I would find a few beetles, a few ants, some hoppers and a very small assortment of crickets. With the exception of the hoppers, the few ants, crickets and beetles would be predominately black. The ants would either be McMurray Ants, foam ants (possibly Hi-Viz), or have bodies created with two bumps of dubbing.

Their beetle selection would probably consist of a couple of foam bodied or deer hair beetles, probably with either a tuft of red or yellow yarn tied in for visibility. Size of the beetles would range from ten to eighteen, depending upon where they were fishing, or what had worked best for them in the past. Their cricket pattern would most probably be the old stand-by Letort cricket in only a couple of sizes.

As far as hopper patterns, they might be carrying a number of different ones, or simply a single pattern in a few different sizes. Again, one of the Letort patterns, or some variation on that pattern, would be expected. Or, if the person happened to be a western fisherman, I might see some of Mike Lawson's Henry's Fork patterns, or some of Ed Schroeder's parachute hoppers. If I really hit the jackpot the guy would be carrying some inchworms in different sizes as well.

If anyone ever stopped me and asked to see my terrestrial selection my response to him would be, "How much time do you have to spare?" Over the years my selection of terrestrials has grown to the point where it has become what might be termed "cumbersome." I find that I must periodically clean house to keep it manageable. I now house all my beetle and ant patterns in a single box, but it is one of the swing-leaf Wheatley boxes which allows me enough space to hold it all. My "miscellaneous" patterns go into another swing leaf Wheatley. Here I carry all of the inchworms, spiders, bugs, caterpillars, leaf hoppers (jassids) and everything else. In a third box, one with adjustable compartments, I carry all of my hopper and cricket patterns. For me, these three boxes hold just about all the terrestrial patterns I feel are necessary. The question you might ask at this point is obvious, "why so many patterns." My answer is a simple one-because they are all productive, and catch trout with amazing consistency.

I fish terrestrial patterns long before the major hatches occur in the spring, and I continue to fish them well into the fall. Why? Because over the years I have found that they produce steadily and consistently. Sure, I fish other patterns. If there is a major hatch going on I'm just like everyone else. I'll fish whatever the fish are rising to-Hendricksons, Sulphurs, PMDs, March Browns, Blue Winged Olives. I'm certainly not one to turn down the chance to fish to rising fish! My selection of dry flies is, however, quite small compared to my terrestrial collection. It is, surprisingly, contained in two fly boxes and seems to become smaller every year. As a matter of fact, I'm beginning to wonder if I could cover just about everything with a good selection of Adams in a lot of different sizes.

This cricket pattern is one of the many terrestrial patterns developed by the author using foam discs to better simulate the heavy head, thorax and body parts of most terrestrials.     Harrison Steeves III photo

Terrestrials work and work consistently. They also seem to work everywhere, but this isn't surprising since they make up the bulk of the worldwide insect population. Furthermore, trout in New Zealand or Argentina are no different from trout in the United States. They all appreciate a good mouthful, and many terrestrials represent just that-a full meal, or at least a good percentage of a full meal. They are also easy pickings. They don't belong on the water and cannot escape from it once they are stuck in the interface. What trout can possibly refuse a chunky beetle or cricket floating over it's nose?

Foam disc terrestrial patterns, such as this hopper, are large and easy to tie, cast well, float high, are very easy to locate on the water, and provide hungry trout with the promise of a "full meal."     Harrison Steeves III photo

But the more I fish terrestrials, the more I realize that the pattern must often fit the situation. Certainly not to the extent that "matching the hatch" for mayflies, caddisflies or stoneflies occurs, but with more frequency than one might suspect. We do not often see "hatches" of terrestrial insects. With the exception of flights of winged ants, hoppers which occur in huge numbers and are blown into the water by winds, or beetles which sometimes occur in amazing numbers along the banks of streams (the Japanese Beetle is a good example), we are not presented with true "hatch" situations. As a result we do not often have to contend with "hatch selectivity" when fishing terrestrials. A definite plus! Neither does the angler have to contend with the entomology of terrestrials. A beetle is a beetle, to heck with the genus and species. Likewise for ants, hoppers, crickets, and all the other terrestrials.

What is important is that the angler experiment with enough different terrestrial patterns to establish trout preferences on his or her home water. Whereas most anglers will spend countless hours experimenting with different patterns for a particular mayfly or caddisfly, their attitude toward terrestrials is frequently somewhat different. It shouldn't be! The size of the terrestrial is often critical, as is the color, and the design. Witness the "ant hatches," when trout are taking only ants of a certain size and color. This can be real frustrating unless you have the exact imitation, or a streamside tying kit.

My advice is not to scrimp on patterns. Don't limit yourself to just a few patterns in a few sizes. The day will come when having a wide selection is going to pay big dividends. Also, learn to fish sinking terrestrials. Some of the greatest fishing I've ever experienced has been with sinking beetle, ant, inchworm and hopper patterns. Big fish are suckers for a sunken terrestrial. There's something about a drowned terrestrial that turns them on. Fish these patterns just as you would a nymph, and the results will surprise you.

The actual process of fishing most terrestrials pattern is really no different from that of fishing any dry fly. You certainly don't need to rush out and buy a new rod-what you have will do just fine, whatever it is. It isn't your equipment that will guarantee success, but the technique you use. If I come across a fish that is actively rising and I can't see anything on the water, I assume it's taking terrestrials. In this case I might use a small ant or beetle, cast above the fish, and let the fly drift down right over the fish. Even if you make a bad cast, let the fly drift. I've had plenty of fish move a good distance to take a misdirected cast. I've also had plenty of fish on difficult water even come after a waking terrestrial, particularly beetle patterns. When fishing terrestrials never be in a rush to make the next cast. Who knows how big a fish might be lying unseen below the fish to which you've cast. In other words, hoard the drift.

If no fish are actively rising I frequently go creeping along the side of the stream casting blindly to the bank. Now, by casting to the bank, I mean exactly that. Not casting toward the bank, but to the bank. Put the fly as close to the bank as possible. If you aren't hanging up in the streamside vegetation every now and then you aren't getting close enough! In this game, inches from the bank-not feet-is just about right. While casting to the bank I'm also constantly looking in the shadows for any disturbance. Even a slight bulge can signal the presence of a large fish, and it's surprising how large a fish will hold in shallow water when it feels secure under a canopy of overhanging vegetation. In bank fishing I frequently use large beetle imitations, and I try to set them down with authority. The "splat" of a big terrestrial hitting the water frequently induces a strike.

Sometimes, when fishing to the bank, you just can't get a cast in front of a good fish due to overhanging branches. In this case, slam the terrestrial down behind the fish. Most of the time it will turn and take it. This technique also works well on fish feeding in mid-stream. Learn to vary the size of the terrestrial you're fishing. Last year I fished a western spring creek in which the fish went absolutely nuts over a size 18 firefly pattern. Nothing else would do. I tried larger sizes but they wouldn't touch it, and I would've tried a size 20, but didn't have any with me.

Likewise, the color of the terrestrial can make a tremendous difference. I love to fish ants, and have fished many ant patterns over the years, primarily black. But lately I've gone to other colors, particularly the brighter fluorescent ones. For some reason trout seem to find these irresistible, and I'm now fishing almost exclusively with brightly colored ants in sizes 16 through 22-and having amazing success! The same holds true for other terrestrials as well. Remember, terrestrials are not like mayflies. The sizes, shapes and colors of terrestrials are without number, so an unusual terrestrial pattern will often outfish the old standard black pattern by a wide margin. I must have at least a dozen different colors of foam in assorted thicknesses on my tying bench, which I use to tie beetles in all different sizes. Ditto for inchworms, which I tie in all colors and sizes, using any material I find which shows promise.

Some new terrestrial patterns I've been tying lately incorporate foam discs, cut from one-sixteenth inch thick foam. These patterns are extremely easy to tie (particularly the beetles and spiders), very tough, and can be done in many different colors. The foam is readily available in most fly shops, or in craft shops. I make my disc cutters from brass tubing of different diameters, depending on the hook size necessary for the pattern. The cutters are sharpened using a case deburring tool from my reloading bench. This item is available from any gun shop which handles reloading supplies. It is a nifty way to sharpen the cutters since it reams both the inside and outside of the tube to a razor's edge. Actually, I made my first cutters from rifle and pistol cartridge cases by cutting off the base of the case with a tubing cutter and then reaming it with a case deburring tool. A wooden dowel, pencil or ball point pen can be used to push the foam discs out of the cutter. I usually only cut about six discs at a time. Trying to do more than this makes it tough to push the discs out of the cutter.

In the final analysis, there are really no rules to follow when tying terrestrial patterns. Experimentation with size, color and materials will often yield a pattern which is a tremendous performer. Some of the most successful imitations are what I would term "what if" patterns. Someone is just sitting at the vise, and says to himself "what if," and after a few hours has a very effective pattern which will hopefully be shared with others. This is exactly what happened in the development of the two patterns given here. Some of us were sitting around during a slow time at a fly fishing show. I was playing with a cigar plugger (used to remove a round plug from the smoking end of a cigar rather than cutting it), had a sheet of foam in front of me and punched out a circle of foam with the cigar plugger. A few minutes of fooling around and presto, instant terrestrial patterns.

Remember when fishing terrestrials that almost any rod will work, provided it has enough backbone to throw the really big stuff if you have to. Match the tippet size to the size of the terrestrial. For example, I fish big hoppers and cicadas, the heads of which are formed from the foam discs described above, on nothing smaller than 4X tippet, and I frequently go to 3X, or even 2X if necessary. If a trout wants a big terrestrial, it isn't going to pay much attention to tippet size.

Fishing terrestrials can become more like hunting than fishing. You may make only a few casts every hour, but the fish you cast to are usually worth the time spent stalking them.

Tie a few Disc O'Beetles and Disc O'Spiders-vary the sizes and colors. With terrestrials there are very few rules!

Disc O'Beetle

Hook: Tiemco 2487, #12-16 Thread: 6/0, color of choice Body: Foam disc of appropriate size to match hook size Underbody: Peacock herl Wings: Kreinik Flat Ribbon, Mallard #850

1 Wrap the shank with thread back to a point even with the barb. Tie in 2-4 peacock herl fibers, depending upon the size of the fly. First wrap the thread, then the peacock herl, forward to the eye, tie off and trim excess. Wrap the thread back through the peacock herl and then forward to the point at which the head will be formed.

2 Place a foam disc on top of the hook shank with the front of the disc extending just over the eye of the hook. One quarter of the disc should extend forward of the point where the thread is positioned. The forward portion of the foam will form the head and the remainder, extending toward the rear, will form the body of the beetle.

3 Fold the foam disc evenly over the hook shank and tie it down. At this point a good head and body will be formed. Give it another ten or twelve tight wraps of thread so the body will not turn on the hook shank.

4 Legs or wings can then be tied in on the sides of the body. Legs may be substituted for the wings if desired. I use either fine or medium round rubber leg material in colors to either match or contrast with the body color. Once the legs or wings are tied in whip finish and remove the thread.

5 Trim the wings or legs to the appropriate length. I usually tie this beetle with wings no longer (or just slightly longer) than the body of the beetle. This photo shows the topside of the finished fly.

6 A small amount of Super Glue can be applied to the underside of the finished fly if your fly bodies turn on the hook shank, but tight thread wraps are usually all that is necessary. This photo shows the underside of the finished fly.

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Harrison Steeves III really is a professor-a professor of Biology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. When he's not professing or fishing, he's a contract fly designer for Umpqua Feather Merchants, and a member of the AK's Tools pro staff. Harry is the co-author, with Ed Koch, of the book Terrestrials, published by Stackpole Press. Steeves' designed foam disc flys are available from Umpqua.

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